Road Test: 2016 Audi S8 Plus
Imagine slipping on your favorite pair of the most beautifully crafted and elegant dress shoes, then going out and running a 4.5 second 40 yard dash.. That’s a bit like what strapping into the S8 Plus is like. Yes, we know that any car with 605 hp should be ridiculously fast, but there’s nothing that can prepare you for the rush of power the S8 Plus unleashes when you plant your right foot hard on the floor.
What makes the S8 Plus especially entertaining is how effortlessly it manages to scare the hell out of you once you realize how fast you’re going. Make no mistake; this is a BIG car, yet an amazingly agile one given its hulking proportions. Our first time driving the S8 Plus at anything but a Florida tourist pace was at Daytona International Speedway. And by at, we mean ON the Speedway. We were blown away by how well this big powerful machine coped with the race track. Read that story here.
This time around, we weren’t going to be on any race tracks, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying the car to its fullest, albeit in very short bursts and with considerably less maximum velocity. This is the only way to fly in an S8 Plus, because unless you’re not afraid of huge speeding tickets, its best to be really careful with the throttle as triple digit speeds are just a sneeze on the loud pedal away.
We took the S8 Plus on a long drive to Carlisle PA for the Import and Performance Nationals, and on the trip we were once again reminded of how perfect a car can be. From the very first time we saw this current generation of A8/S8, we were head over heels in love with the cabin. We have yet to meet its equal in terms of comfort, design, build quality and attention to detail. On long drives, the heated, cooled, 22 way adjustable massaging seats ensure that you will not ever find yourself aching or needing to stop and stretch. Even after 8 hours in the car, we only stopped to eat and feed the car.
Supreme comfort is quite the norm for any D4 platform model though, so we really shouldn’t have been surprised. Where the surprise comes in is every time we feel a little playful, and open the taps a little. Power builds instantly, and violently from the all aluminum 4 liter bi-turbo engine. Max torque of 553 lb/ft happens as low as 2500 rpm when overboost is enabled – without you have to make do with “only” 517 lb/ft. Either way, this kind of power is sufficient to mash your face into a permanent grin, and hurl the car to 60 in 3.7 seconds, a number found to be very conservative. Top speed is limited to 155, unless you opt to have the top speed limiter removed by Audi, in which case it’s 190.
It would be easy to assume the S8 Plus wouldn’t be a ton of fun to fling around on tight twisty roads or long looping on or off ramps. Big luxury cars usually have the handling characteristics of wet lasagna. Not so the S8 Plus. Massive 275/35 21 tires connect the gorgeous aluminum body to the ground (with well-tuned air suspension at all 4 corners in between). The active Sports Differential at the rear of the car works wonders, actually pushing the nose around corners, and erasing any trace of push. The dynamic steering requires surprisingly little wheel input, yet manages to communicate front tire grip very well. All in all, the S8 Plus is a delightful car to drive, whether just causally down the road, or at max capabilities.
With such speed potential available, we were thankful that Audi includes their Carbon Ceramic brakes all the way around. The front rotors are positively massive, completely filling the 21 inch wheels. These brakes have the ability to rapidly bring the car down from any speed. As fast as you can get up to speed, you can get back from speed. This is very reassuring literally everywhere you decide to play with the car, again given how staggeringly fast it is.
While outright speed and performance of the S8 plus is spectacular, it loses not one bit of what makes the D4 platform so wonderful. It is built like a bank vault, solid as if carved from a block of aluminum.
This is as perfect a car as we could ever imagine.
